


Truth or Dare

by aegicheezu



Category: BUCK-TICK, Jrock, X JAPAN
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 20:17:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11562570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aegicheezu/pseuds/aegicheezu
Summary: Atsushi is experiencing some writer’s block, but gets some artistic inspiration from his friend Hide.Notes:*takes place sometime in 1990, before the song “Kiss Me Goodbye” is released.*Hide is capitalized for ease of reading.





	Truth or Dare

Atsushi sat on the floor in his apartment. The late afternoon sunlight cast long shadows into the room, beams of soft warm light falling on his body where he sat. He shook his head and sat for a while swishing his hair back and forth. _It’s so long now_ , Atsushi thought happily. _So swishy. Swish, swish. God I’m bored._ He sighed, tilting his head back and tickling his hands behind him with the ends of his hair.

Suddenly impatient, Atsushi snapped. “Ahh! I just can’t think of anything!” He slammed his hand against the table where he was slumped, seemingly defeated by the blindingly white sheet of paper that mocked him with its emptiness. He had been sat at his coffee table since the morning, and had barely written two lines. With a theatrical sigh and a long stretch like a ballet dancer, he grasped the nearby telephone with one hand and dialed a number.

“Hello?” a sleepy, wraspy voice on the other end asked.

“I can’t think of a single line!” Atsushi didn’t even announce his name.

“Atsushi, is that you?” Hide laughed across the phone line. “What is it now?”

“Come over and help me. I’ll make you food.”

“Alright, alright.” Hide, chuckling, hung up.

Atsushi replaced the receiver with a soft ‘click,’ and lay down on the cool floor beneath him, legs tucked under the coffee table. He exhaled, his long hair covering his eyes. _At least with Hide coming over, it will be a welcome distraction_ , he thought. _Maybe he can help me with this song…_

A soft smile crept across Atsushi’s face.

 

*

 

“Yo! Hello! Open up!” Hide’s voice called out from beyond the front door, banging on it. “Atsushi!”

Atsushi scrambled to the front door and opened it, scowling. “Why do you have to announce yourself like that? You sound like a gangster!” Atsushi laughed. “The old women in my complex will think you’re going to rob them!” He led Hide into his apartment, playfully slapping his back.

“Don’t chastise me,” Hide replied, fake-pouting and thrusting a shopping back into Atsushi’s face, “I even brought you snacks.”

“Ah,” he took the bag. “Thanks.” Running a hand through his long hair, he felt suddenly bashful. “Here, sit. I’ll get some beer.” Hide obliged, and sat on the expansive leather sofa. There wasn’t much else to Atsushi’s apartment; wood floors, bare walls, several potted plants, the sofa, a tv. Hide let his head loll backwards where he sat, blinking up at the ceiling. There was a tiny spider creeping along, pausing every few steps. Can you see me? Hide wondered playfully.

Atsushi quickly returned, a cold can of beer in each hand. “Here,” he rested the cool metal can against Hide’s forehead, bringing him out of his staring contest with the spider.

“Ah!” he screamed, jokingly. Taking the beer, he patted the sofa next to him. Atsushi sat down close enough that their thighs touched comfortably.

“So,” Hide started, “you need some help, huh?” He patted the younger man playfully on the head, and slid his hand through Atsushi’s long hair. He twirled it in his fingers.

“Yeah,” Atsushi replied, “I’ve been staring at this damn pieced of paper for hours. Hours! I need some inspiration. Our manager is on my ass about getting new material sampled and recorded.”

“Ah,” Hide replied. “I know the feeling. Let’s play a game to take your mind off things.”

“We’re not children, Hide.” Atsushi smirked, lighting a cigarette.

“Maybe so,” Hide countered, taking a cigarette from the other and lighting it off his, “But you need me, don’t you?” There was a suggestiveness in his tone that Atsushi wasn’t sure Hide meant to have, but he didn’t question it.

“I do, yeah,” he smiled back, meeting the other’s gaze.

“Alright then. Truth or dare.”

“Are you serious? Truth or dare?!” Atsushi nearly spat out his beer. What was Hide playing at? Then, composing himself, he finally agreed. “Alright, alright. Go ahead.” He nudged Hide.

“Ah-ah-ah, you go first,” Hide said, taking a sip. _His eyes seem different today_ , Atsushi thought. What’s on his mind? He was usually so carefree; Atsushi often thought of Hide as a helium balloon threatening to float away if you didn’t hold on tight enough.

“Alright.” Atsushi thought for a moment. “Truth.”

“That’s boring!” Hide cried out.

“Hey! It’s my turn, I get to choose!” _He’s so blunt_ , Atsushi thought. _I love that about him. He’s just what I need today._

“Fine, fine.” Hide thought for a while, humming. Then finally, in a sing-song voice, “be honest: is making music your passion?” he smiled at Atsushi.

“Of course it is,” he answered, “I’ve never wanted to do anything else.”

“That’s good,” Hide was satisfied. “My turn now… dare.”

Atsushi mimicked Hide’s humming as he thought. “I dare you to try a hand-stand against that wall,” he drank. Hide looked at him with a face that said, ‘are you serious?’ but stood up and marched over to the wall opposite where they sat. Standing with his hands on his hips, he stared at the wall. “Can’t you do it?” Atsushi called out, challengingly. The red-haired man stuck his tongue out defiantly and wiggled his fingers back at him. Then, he turned back to the wall and thought for a moment.

“Acchan, come hold my legs so I don’t fall over,” Hide whined.

 

Laughter.

 

*

A few hours later, empty and bent beer cans littered the floor. The dares had become more and more outrageous, ranging from cartwheels to prank phone calls to streaking on the apartment’s roof. At last, exhausted from their silliness, Hide and Atsushi lay on the sofa, draped over each other like ragdolls. Their heartbeats seemed to sync up in the stillness of the apartment.

“Give me a good Truth now, I’m tired,” Atsushi asked Hide, feeling the heat from the other’s delightfully pink face pressed against his shoulder. Hide shifted where he lay, and looked up at Atsushi through his large brown eyes. How pretty he is like this, Atsushi thought.

“Atsushi, what do you think of me?” Hide asked, earnestly. His voice was soft, almost searching. Atsushi was struck by how sincere he seemed.

“Hide, you know how well I think of you,” he started to say, managing a smile.

“That’s not what I mean, Acchan,” Hide cast down his gaze. “I mean, what do you think of me… as a man.”

Atsushi stopped to think. Is he asking me how I feel about him romantically? About my feelings? His heart began to race. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Not to Hide.

“I don’t know, Hide,” he replied honestly. “I have loved being a friend to you,” he propped Hide up so they could look at each other properly. “But I never thought to look at you in that way…” he ran a hand through his long hair, noticing how it now smelled of the other man.

Was that the right answer? Atsushi immediately felt stupid. He could see that Hide’s eyes had darkened, with… with what? He couldn’t tell. Maybe it was disappointment, perhaps it was purpose.

“Another Dare, Acchan. Give me one.” Hide moved his face close. _Ah, I know what you’re asking for_ , Atsushi thought. I’ll play along.

“Kiss me,” Atsushi heard himself whisper.

Hide leaned forward and pressed his lips to Atsushi’s. He tasted of beer and cigarettes.

Atsushi melted into Hide’s embrace, caught off guard by how right it all suddenly felt. He felt as though he could taste all of Hide’s feelings – all the questioning, and the bravery it must have taken for him to finally get this far, the fear of rejection… Atsushi fought the urge to cry. How long had Hide been keeping these feelings to himself?

They broke apart after a few moments, panting a little. “Well…” Hide said softly after a while, “What about now, Acchan?”

“Hide…” Atsushi whispered, a hand still resting against the back of his neck, drawing him closer so their foreheads touched. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see it until now.”

“See what?” Hide breathed against Atsushi’s lips.

“How you felt… and how I felt, too. I’m sorry. We’ve wasted so much time…” He softly kissed Hide again. I could get used to this, he thought. I wonder if we would get away with it…

“Acchan, could we,” he kissed Atsushi again, “could we…”

“Be together?” Atsushi finished Hide’s thought. He smiled his crooked smile and rested his forehead against Hide’s. “…we could certainly try.”

“Good,” Hide sighed. “Because that’s what I’ve wanted for a long time.” He snaked his arms around Atsushi’s strong frame and buried his face in his neck. Breathing deeply, Atsushi stroked the other’s long red hair. _Yes,_ he thought, _this is… good. We could be happy, just like this._

 

_I want you to look at me and be with me always_

_Until we crumble, until we break_

_I want to gaze at you and be here always…_

_Held by the moon, just like this_

_It would be fine if it all disappeared…_


End file.
